


SNS Chain Fic Chapter 1: The Lost Princess

by Lohrendrell



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-13
Updated: 2017-07-13
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:40:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27338830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lohrendrell/pseuds/Lohrendrell
Summary: This is chapter 1 of the SNS Chain Fic, an old project from 2017. Unfortunately, the project flopped, but I wanted to keep the first chapter archived since I liked it so much :)This story will not be continued (at least not by me)! I was meant to write the first chapter only. To see the other chapters that were published, please gohere.
Relationships: Uchiha Sasuke/Uzumaki Naruto
Kudos: 2





	SNS Chain Fic Chapter 1: The Lost Princess

**Author's Note:**

> This is chapter 1 of the SNS Chain Fic, an old project from 2017. Unfortunately, the project flopped, but I wanted to keep the first chapter archived since I liked it so much :)
> 
> This story will not be continued (at least not by me)! I was meant to write the first chapter only. To see the other chapters that were published, please go [here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11494434).

The sun was mild in that afternoon, the warmth of its light not unrelentingly cruel as in summertime nor increasingly absent as in the fall, before it hid completely behind the angry winter clouds that shook the waters surrounding Uzushiogakure, the Realm of Whirlwinds, into monsters that gave the land its name. Today, it was just perfectly constant and soft, allowing for the springtime winds to shake the trees and its leaves just enough to make soft, comforting whooshing noises.

In a meadow full of marsh marigolds, just beside the tall live oaks that formed a makeshift entrance to the realm, Naruto, an elf of Uzushiogakure, the prince of the House of Uzumaki, slept seemingly without a care in the world, his arms and legs spread along the plants, crushing some flowers as he turned in his dreams, snoring his way into the afternoon.

It was only when his sensitive pointy ears capture the rhythmic sound of paws approaching that Naruto woke up. He immediately recognized the gentle, almost imperceptible but steady stride of his giant fox companion, Kurama. He yawned and stretched, only opening his eyes when Kurama sniffled at his face.

“Wake up, lazy mutt,” Kurama said, not unfriendly, and licked Naruto to force him to get up.

“Ugh, ew,” Naruto complained, but he was laughing, “you're disgusting.” On this size, Kurama’s tongue was larger than Naruto's torso. The elf passed a hand through his hair, feeling it wet and sticky, and his laughter faltered. “Ew, Kurama!”

Kurama wasn't affected by Naruto’s scream in the least. He laid down on the meadow beside the elf prince. “It’s nearly sundown,” he pointed, calmly, resting his head on one of his pawns.

“Right,” Naruto answered, knowing what Kurama meant. He left the fox resting and went to the nearest river, where he washed off the saliva from his hair, face and neck. Then, Naruto climbed easily one of the live oaks and settled in one of its thickest branches, and waited.

The Realm of Whirlwinds, or Uzushiogakure, in the tongue of Naruto’s ancestors, was the home of the Uzumaki, one of the oldest and longest lineage of elves. Their realm was located on the far east of the continent, in the Shrapnels, as it was called by some, for the many islands that seem to have been broken, shards of land that were disconnected from the continent to form the Realm of Whirlwinds. In truth, Uzushiogakure wasn’t made of islands, but of a far and rich stretch of land that appeared and disappeared as the tide lowered and rose. The Uzumaki never bothered to correct the foreigners’ assumptions about their home—only they knew the true geography of their land, and it served to provide both their protection and their isolation.

The nearly constant whirlwinds that were so well known were the perfect truth, however. Uzushiogakure was located where the salty water from the ocean, to the east, meet the fresh waters from the Great Rivers coming from the west. That, along with the furious winds the ocean brought daily, were what cause the fiery maelstroms their home was known for. When the tide was high, the eddies were so violent it was nearly impossible to cross them. To all humans and most elves, it was impossible; only the Uzumaki held the secrets to sail and navigate along the whirlwinds.

The tide was lowering now, so the true vastness of the land was starting to appear. The salt-waterlilies gave way to the small salt-water myrtle bushes, usually drowned under the water when the tide was high, that indicated the stretch of land that connected the entrance to the realm and the continent. From the tall tree, Naruto waited until he could see, from a long distance away, the caravan sent by his mother three weeks ago coming back home.

“They haven’t got to her,” Naruto announced, loud enough that Kurama would hear him. He knew that just by looking at the caravan coming through the passageway.

They were sent to recover Karin, Naruto’s older sister, but none of the elves neither the royal carriage seem harmed, so they didn’t find her. The caravan would be in pieces if they had, and Naruto would be able to hear his sister’s screams and curses from that far away.

He sighed. It had been nearly a year since Princess Karin Uzumaki, the Heiress, disappeared from the realm. The possibility of kidnapping had been ruled out a long time ago, and so Naruto knew the search would be much more difficult than if it were the case of a mere external threat to the realm.

Naruto knew his sister well. If she left in the middle of the night, when the tide was high and a storm was approaching, it was because she didn’t want to come back. She left behind a letter that was only found weeks after her departure— _‘I can’t do it. That is not me’_. It made her wishes clear enough. It was the ninth caravan sent in search for her. Their parents had sent letters to many other elf realms, pleading to inform if they ever saw a glimpse of the Uzumaki Heiress, but so far they received no answer.

Naruto was waiting beside the giant live oaks, Kurama by his side, when the caravan entered the realm. “Welcome back,” he greeted in ancient tongue, in a perfect example of the manners of a prince. “I’m relieved you all haven’t been harmed.”

“My prince. Thank you.” Nagato, the head of the caravan and a distant cousin of the prince, took Naruto’s hand and bent down to give it a kiss. The other elves followed suit. “We’re deeply sorry. We weren’t able to find the princess.”

Naruto shook his head, dismissing the reverence and giving his brothers-by-lineage a grin. “You must be starving. Come on, there’s a banquet waiting for you, good news or not.”

“Thank you.”

They walked to the center of Uzushiogakure, where the family branches, including the royal family, set their homes. Kurama was nice for a change and helped carry the party belongings, their swords and archery and the remains of fruit bread in their bags. As they approached the heart of the realm, Kurama’s size decreased, until he was only the size of a dire wolf from the north.

Most of the homes in Uzushiogakure were simple wooden cabins built over the branches of the giant oak trees that grew there. The Uzumaki Royal Home was similar to every other home of their clan, only slightly larger, its rooms spanning through branches of three different trees. Wood and rope bridges connected the rooms of the royal family home, as well as the adjacent cabin used for clan meetings and rituals. It’s there where they eat their meals along with the other families of the clan.

When Naruto and the search party arrived to the heart of the realm, the sun was already down and the cabin was lit up with the special candles the Uzumaki produce—its fire didn’t go off even at the roughest of winds; throughout the continent, it was considered a treasure, and the Uzumaki always found good deals in trading those candles.

Inside, Naruto’s mom and dad were waiting for them with a banquet, as promised. The Queen and the King Uzumaki received them with the usual warmth the royal family always received every member of their House. Nagato and his companion immediately bent down and prepared for debriefing, but Kushina stopped them. “Leave the reports for tomorrow,” Kushina told them, even as the lack of news of her daughter and heir crushed her, Naruto could see. “Let’s eat!”

The night ended in the lightest way possible, every member of the House coming to dine and greet the companion. There was music to sing the greetings, kisses of lovers that had missed each other, and laughter.

The next morning, the same cabin didn’t hold the same light mood as before. Naruto woke up early, dressed in the news garment his mom sewed for him (she had been sewing a lot lately) and attended the debriefing-cum-breakfast, as expected of the prince.

“We went as far to the west as we possibly could,” Nagato was saying when Naruto enters. He kissed his mother’s head before sitting down by her side. “We even went beyond the Shadow Caves of the Nara House, thinking that she might have gone to the other side of the continent to sail to the westest of west. But there was no sign of her, My Queen. Our Senju brothers didn’t hear a thing on our way there and back. We even watched a couple of human villages on our way—no sign of the princess.”

The queen didn’t receive the news too well. There was no sign of the happy, boisterous lady that partied all night long with her House last night, only a tired woman, sick from months of missing her child.

Naruto reached to take his mom’s hand, which made Kushina give him a tiny smile.

His dad who led the meeting that morning, thanking Nagato and his companion and calling the other elves in the realm to attend the meeting. Several red-haired elves appeared immediately, males and females alike, warriors, archers, trackers and healers, to prepare for the next caravan under the command of the queen.

“It’s useless,” the queen interrupted the reunion, caressing Naruto’s hand that she was holding while staring, seemingly distracted, at the map stretched along the table. Several landmarks had been crossed out, every place the search parties have searched so far.

All the elves stopped, falling into silence, as the queen spoke. Except Minato. “Kushina, what—”

“It’s no use, Minato. Our daughter doesn’t want to be found, haven’t you noticed? Our House is doomed.”

“We can’t lose hope…”

“Eleven months,” Kushina said, voice elevating against her husband. The grip on Naruto’s hand tightened, but Naruto didn’t push his hand back. “Eleven months without my daughter, my heiress, the future of our House, and you tell me that I can’t lose hope? I know my daughter. I read her letter. Karin won’t come back by force, someone needs to sit her down and talk to her.”

“Who?” his dad asked, but his eyes showed that he already knew the answer. “You’re thinking of leaving the realm? Have you gone crazy?”

“Yes! Yes! I’m crazy! I’m going crazy after so long without my daughter, can’t you understand that?”

“Kushina!” It was one of the few times Naruto had seen his dad raise his voice against his mom. “What are you even saying? If you think I’m going to sit here and watch my— _our_ daughter, your heir, disappear without doing nothing, you are the one who doesn’t know me!”

“And what are you going to do?”

“Someone needs to look for her, no matter how long it takes—”

“Who? You? We have risked all our brothers and sisters, and my daughter doesn’t want to be found. I ask you, Minato, who? Who are you going to send that can possibly do a better job than our best trackers?” The queen was yelling now, standing up and towering over the king, even as he was taller than her, and several elves tried to calm her down, offering their services, offering ideas, but she didn’t listen, just yelled, tears threatening to wash down her face. “Our House is doomed! Doomed! Doomed!”

As a matriarchal society, the House of Uzumaki held on to the Queen’s hands to lead them. As the Heiress, it fell upon Princess Karin to assume the leadership of the House once their mother passed. It would still be a long time for it to happen, but still, it was Karin’s duty to learn how to lead, how to be the Queen the Uzumaki deserved. There was only one other instance when the Uzumaki were left without an heir temporarily: when his great-aunt Mito resigned her role and married for love in the Senju House. Thankfully, it was the beginning of a time of peace, and Naruto’s mom was still a toddler, barely thirty years old, and assumed the throne successfully after her aunt.

Karin didn’t sacrifice herself for another greater good, or for political reasons; she didn’t die for war, didn’t leave for love. Karin simply abandoned her House without so much as an explanation, left her House, her family, her brothers and sisters, and that could not be tolerated.

Without a Princess Heiress, the House of Uzumaki was essentially without future. Naruto was the youngest of their kind, so there was no cousin younger than him to assume Karin’s duty at such a tender age enough to truly assimilate her role. If the princess weren’t found and brought back, the prince were to marry in one of the closest Elf Houses of their lineage—the Senju or the Namikaze, probably; perhaps the Yamanaka—and so the History of the House of Uzumaki would come to an end.

Naruto couldn’t allow it.

“I’ll go,” Naruto said, impulsively.

Once more, the room fell silent, all eyes now upon Naruto.

“Absolutely not,” his dad interrupted the silence once again. “Are you going crazy as well? I won’t allow it,” he was practically yelling now, but even that was not enough to muffle the queen’s quietly, almost whispered, “All right.”

“What?” The king yelled. “No. Naruto, no. You’re only two hundred and nineteen years old, barely a child. I will _not_ allow it.”

“I allow it,” the queen interrupted, and that finally shuts the king up. The Queen’s words were always final.

Kushina grabbed both of her son’s hands, squeezing tightly, and he stood in front of her. “You will go, my son. Take your companion fox with you, along with my wishes and prayers. I’ll send letters to the other Realms pleading for your protection. Bring your sister back.”

Naruto nodded, silent under the wet, desperate eyes of his mom and the worried, almost hurt gaze of his dad. The deed was settled.

The next morning, the queen entered the prince’s room as he was preparing for his mission. “My son,” his mom said, taking Naruto’s face in both of her hands. She was giving her the first hopeful smile she had shown in eleven months, and this was the last string of strength Naruto needed before partying ways.

“I won’t disappoint you,” he told his mom.

Her smile widened. “You never have.” She reached under her vests and took a small wooden box, adorned with golden laces and Karin’s name written in ancient tongue in a fine letter, in pure gold. She explained it was for Naruto to give his sister on the name of their mom when he found her. “Don’t forget to come back,” Kushina finished, almost as an afterthought, as if she feared for a second that Naruto wouldn’t. “Bring your sister with you, please.”

“I will,” he promised, and kissed his mom’s forehead before leaving.

Kurama was waiting for him when he jumped down from his chambers on the oak tree, and so was his dad. “Dad,” Naruto started to say, wanting to apologize to his father and explain his actions. Karin was the princess heiress, and Naruto was her brother, her warrior, her protector. It was his duty to stay by Karin’s side when she became the Queen, and even before that, as her brother. He missed his sister so much, and he didn’t want to see his mom suffering anymore.

He will fulfill his destiny and help Karin fulfill hers, no matter what.

“I know.” Minato didn’t give him a chance to explain. “Just… Just be careful, is all I ask.”

Naruto nodded. They hugged. Minato helped him load his belongings, his sword, a couple of mantles and a few bags filled with fruit bread, on Kurama’s back.

“Be careful, son,” his dad told him again, “I’ll wait for you. For you both.”

Naruto smiled and waved one last time as Kurama descended the path away from the heart of the realm, in the direction of the continent.

They didn’t even have to wait for the tide to lower because Kurama assumed his full size to travel. In a little over two hours they crossed the entirety of the Realm of Whirlwinds, a trip that usually took half a day. Naruto was almost dozing off on Kurama’s back when the fox barked, “All right, kid. That’s enough.”

Naruto found himself falling face-first into the ground. “Ha, ha, funny. Very funny.” When he got up, was to find his belongings on the ground and Kurama the size of a big cat. “Aw, no, not plushie size” Naruto complained. “You have to carry me!”

Kurama didn’t so much as regard him, laying down on the earth and resting his head on his pawns. “I’m tired,” he said, but Naruto knew that he was lying. “Let me rest for a while.”

Naruto huffed, but he knew there was no point in discussing with a lazy fox. He collected his things and put them carefully on his back, his sword on his belt, and lifted Kurama up on his arms. “You’re lucky you’re cute like this,” Naruto teased, to which Kurama scratched Naruto’s finger with his claws just enough to hurt, but not to bleed.

Naruto looked ahead on the vast land in front of him. He knew by instinct where he was: just beyond the Realm of Whirlwinds—home—where the winds gets milder and the vegetation grows drier and drier. He had enough time to be educated on the maps of the continent growing up, so he made a quick scan of the land in his head.

To a few kilometers from where he stood, in The Neck, was the House of Senju, their closest brothers by blood and home of his great-aunt Mito. The Senju were the Key Lords of the south and the north; their landbase was the only possible pathway connecting the south and the north, so, even though there were many and different clans of creatures in both hemispheres, it was the Senju’s hands to hold the market trades and diplomacy of the different folk. A little northwest from there was the House of Namikaze, where his dad was from and where Naruto got his looks from as well; he spent several summers there as a child. Their neighbors were the Elves of Yamanaka. To the far west, were the Houses of Nara, Sarutobi and Akimichi, along with several human villages. And the north was home to the Uchiha, the Hyuuga and several other small clans of different folk, a land that seems to be perpetually at war and that Naruto had never visited before.


End file.
